DETROIT, Mich. — A report from the Mid-Council Commission 2 (MCC-2) further explaining the recommendation of reducing the number of synods to eight was presented to commissioners of the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s 221st General Assembly during Sunday’s plenary session at the Cobo Center in Detroit.
The proposal will be discussed in committee meetings and considered as a business item for action later this week.
The recommendation from the MCC-2 asks the GA to approve reducing the number of synods from its current number of 16 to eight. It comes two years after the 220th GA rejected a proposal from the MCC-1 (appointed by the 219th GA in 2010) to reduce synods as ecclesial bodies, leading to the formation of a second 15-member panel to explore the future of synods.
“We recognize our denomination is now smaller than it was in the past when the existing synod structure was created,” said Byron Wade, a teaching elder from New Hope Presbytery who served as co-moderator of MCC-2 along with Ariel Mink (from Redwoods Presbytery).
Wade noted that the commission looked at the expanding use of technology, Permanent Judicial Commission workloads and populations in determining the need to reduce the number of synods.
MCC-2 concluded that elimination of synods as ecclesial bodies would not at this time simplify the governance structure of the PCUSA, though it determined that the current denominational structure no longer fits today’s church. Examination of the current structure revealed that synod functions could be carried out effectively and efficiently by larger bodies, observing that reducing the number of synods would best be accomplished by collaboration between the existing synods and presbyteries rather than as a directive from the General Assembly.
“The goal is not to reduce, per se, but reinvigorate,” he said. “We believe collaboration is listening, praying, discussing, visioning together … letting go and letting God do a new thing. We know there will be a lot of fear with change. But we invite stakeholders to come together at the table … to aspire to do what God is calling us to do, to aspire to what God is calling us to be.”
During face-to-face meetings, telephone conversations and other forms of communication, the MCC-2 hammered outs its proposal, finalizing the recommendation commissioners will consider during a January meeting in Dallas, Texas.
The report reads (with individual recommendations):
1-That the 221st General Assembly (2014):
a. Direct that a new configuration of synod boundaries be established through a collaborative process between the synods and presbyteries resulting in no more than eight larger regional synods, each with an emerging sense of purpose, partnership, context and call. The synods shall report to the 222nd General Assembly (2016).
b. Inform all synods and presbyteries that designated members of Mid-Council Commission 2 will be available for conversation, clarification and collaboration during the synods’ and presbyteries’ two-year process of reconfiguring synods.
c. Recommend that the 222nd General Assembly (2016) direct its moderator, in consultation with the stated clerk, to appoint an Administrative Commission for the following purposes:
• To assist synods and presbyteries who have been engaged in substantive plan for reconfiguration but have been unable to resolve particular issues in their process;
• To recommend to the 223rd General Assembly (2018) the boundary changes necessary to achieve a total of no more than eight synods, if there remain synods and presbyteries that have been unable or unwilling to engage in a collaborative process of reconfiguration.
2. That the 221st General Assembly (2014), in order to ensure that the responsibilities listed in G-3.0502 are fulfilled, establish a “Committee on Mid-Councils” and charge it to engage in a process for the ongoing strengthening and nurturing of the Mid-Councils of the Presbyterian Church (USA), with particular emphasis on collaborating with the synods of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to support clarity as to their ecclesial and missional identity, purpose, structure and strategies by amending Standing Rule C.1.a. as follows:
a. The stated clerk shall propose the number and designation of assembly committees to the General Assembly, which shall include a Committee on Mid-Councils. The stated clerk shall present the proposed committee structure to the General Assembly for consideration and ratification at the first assembly meeting at which business is transacted. In making these proposals, the stated clerk shall consult with the appropriate General Assembly entity or entities, and may consult with other persons.
3. That the 221st General Assembly (2014) continue the Mid-Council Commission II through the meeting of the 222nd General Assembly with the following authority:
a. Pursuant to G-3.0502d, to organizing new synods, or dividing, uniting, or otherwise combining previously existing synods or portions of synods; and
b. Pursuant to G-3.0502e, approving the acts of synods to organize, divide, unite or combine presbyteries or portions of presbyteries.
4. That the 221st General Assembly (2014) accept this report as the commission’s answer to the items referred to it by the 220th General Assembly (2012).